


Syncopation (It's what you do to me)

by undergod



Series: Syncopation LP [1]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare, The Shadowhunter Chronicles - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Rock Band, Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Blow Jobs, Friends With Benefits, M/M, Miscommunication, Misunderstandings, Mutual Pining, Pining, Porn with Feelings, Rimming, Smut, musician!Jace, musician!Simon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-07
Updated: 2017-07-07
Packaged: 2018-11-28 09:16:35
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11414844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/undergod/pseuds/undergod
Summary: They fight about everything. They fight about the band name(Salacious Mold sounds like an STD, Simon, and Rock Solid Panda is just dumb)or what shows to play(We’re playing Hunter’s Moon again, Jace, I don’t care that half a dozen of their regulars are after your head–your fault for hooking up and sneaking out after).But mostly, they fight about the music.AKA: In which Simon and Jace are bandmates and also fuck buddies.





	Syncopation (It's what you do to me)

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Jimon Prompt! SUPER COOL AND SHIT](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11122674) by [AnyOne00](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnyOne00/pseuds/AnyOne00). 



> I needed a break from my WIP projects. Have some dirty, dirty smut with feelings.
> 
> Based on [this tumblr post by any-one00.](http://any-one00.tumblr.com/post/161545176835/okay-help-please)

It starts like this:

Simon and Jace are in the practice room at the end of the hallway in the back of Luke’s music store, fighting for the umpteenth time about the arrangement on the new song that they’re working on.

(They fight about everything. They fight about the band name  _(Salacious Mold sounds like an STD, Simon, and Rock Solid Panda is just dumb)_  or what shows to play  _(We’re playing Hunter’s Moon again, Jace, I don’t care that half a dozen of their regulars are after your head—your fault for hooking up and sneaking out after)._ But mostly, they fight about the music. They spend hours debating arrangements and syncopation and the placement of a rhyme in the lyric. It should be frustrating, but the process makes Simon feel more alive than he ever has. Jace is a classically trained pianist, Simon is a self-taught electronic sound engineer and hobby guitarist. It shouldn’t work—but when it does, the music they make together is pure sex. Better even.)

This time, Simon is fighting for a layer of drums where Jace thinks they should leave the base of the music bare. He’s midway through his rant, Jace just sitting on the piano bench glowering up at him with his pretty kaleidoscope eyes. It’s hard to look directly at him, so Simon doesn’t, instead pacing back and forth waving his hands around in the air for emphasis. He’s not looking at Jace, which is why he doesn’t notice that Jace has gotten up until he turns and runs face first into Jace’s well-defined chest.

He stops mid-sentence with a squeak.

“God, don’t you ever stop talking?” Jace growls. And Simon is about to respond that  _yes_  he does,  _just not when Chris Evans looking fuckers are impugning his musical ability_ , but then Jace is grabbing him by the lapels of his shirt and hauling him in for a kiss.

Surprised, Simon kisses back automatically, putting all the heat of his argument into the kiss. He has to scramble for purchase, trying his best to push close to Jace. He runs his hands up Jace’s arms to the back of his neck and swears he feels Jace shiver when the pads of his fingertips brush the nape of it. Jace groans, setting his big hands on Simon’s waist and reeling him in.

Jace is nearly half a foot taller than him, which makes making out a little bit awkward until Jace takes a step back, pulling Simon towards him as he sits on the hood of the squat digital piano. He spreads his knees apart, and Simon fits perfectly in the slot they leave as he presses up against Jace, chest to chest, hip to hip—and oh,  _helloo there._  Jace’s (not-so) little friend is up at attention, digging into Simon’s thigh.

With a shock, Simon remembers where they are and struggles to pull back. As he tries to pull away, Jace follows with shorter, sweeter kisses.

“Jace, no we can’t,” Simon says breathlessly as Jace ducks his head to plant kisses down the line of Simon’s neck.

“Why not? You want this as much as I do,” Jace says lowly, emphasizing his point by lifting his hips into Simon’s. Simon is just as hard as Jace is, and he honest to god whimpers when their jeans covered dicks make contact.

“We’re still in Luke’s store,” he protests. He fights the urge to grind their hips together. Luke could drop by at any moment, poke his head in or look through the window of the practice room door. Simon is still scarred by the time in eighth grade where Luke took it upon himself to give Simon the talk about the birds and the bees. Getting caught dry humping his bandmate? Simon would legit  _die_  from the mortification.

Jace pulls back, just far enough to press their foreheads together. His brown-blue eyes are hard and unreadable, searching for something in Simon’s eyes, though Simon doesn’t know what. Simon gazes pleadingly back at him, trying to convey that he  _very much_  wants to continue, just not where they could be walked in on by the only father figure Simon has ever known.

When Jace doesn’t respond, just looks at Simon for a good five seconds, Simon continues, “Can we just go somewhere? I just don’t want to get caugh—mmph!”

Jace shuts him up again with a kiss. It’s deep and hard, and then suddenly Jace is pulling back. “You want to go to my place?” he asks, voice low and confident. It’s a tone that Simon has heard a dozen times before, every time he’s overheard Jace seducing someone at the bar.

Simon nods quickly. “Yeah, I’ll drive.”

It takes forever to get back to Jace’s place. First, because he makes it difficult for Simon to concentrate on packing up his computer, standing all impatient and distracting next to the door. Then, when they’ve rounded the corner from Luke’s music store and reached Simon’s van, Jace insists on crowding Simon up against it, bracketing Simon on either side with his arms and kissing him heatedly until he’s weak in the knees.

If Simon didn’t know any better, he might think that Jace is kissing like he’s afraid Simon will change his mind. He might think that the gentle way Jace deepens the kisses, cups the back of Simon’s neck, and breathes his name are all significant somehow.

_ (But Simon does know better, knows Jace well enough to know that Jace doesn’t do desperate, doesn’t do begging. He just gets off on antagonism and argumentative banter is all. _

_ (Exhibit A: Kaelie, who Simon one watched dump a drink in Jace’s lap, and then ran into the next morning as she was leaving Jace’s place when he came over to pick Jace up for studio practice. _

_ (Exhibit B: Maia, Simon’s ex-something who Jace always bickered with, until one open mic night during Simon’s solo acoustic set at Hunter’s Moon. Maia disappeared from her post at the bar for his entire set, only to come back after looking dazed and saying, ‘So I just hooked up with Jace Wayland in the back room, that boy is a  **freak**.’ _

_ (There's a list a mile long of Jace's hookups and one night stands Simon could refer to. So yeah, he knows this isn’t something personal—Jace doesn’t do personal—but it is something that’s been coming for a while, since Magnus introduced Jace as his new roommate and a potential bandmate for Simon’s solo project. The tall, handsome blond had looked him up and down and immediately made some disparaging remark about Simon’s sartorial choices. Simon bristled at that, shooting back something about big muscles that was meant to be rude, but Jace had just smirked like it was a point of pride.) _

Now they're back at the apartment, Jace herding him towards his bedroom and shutting the door behind them. Jace is on him again immediately, tugging off Simon’s layers of shirts between heated kisses. “How do you want to do this?” he asks, trailing his fingers up Simon’s body. “Want me to fuck you? Or you to fuck me?”

A jolt of lust hits Simon, and he’s visualizing now all the different ways and positions they could try, but mostly it’s been a long while since he’s been fucked. So he tells Jace, “You’re on top this time,” as he works on Jace’s belt buckle.

“This time?” Jace sounds amused.

Simon flushes at that. He hadn’t meant to give away so much in a throwaway line, especially when he’s not even sure if there will  _be_  a next time. To avoid answering Jace’s question, he falls to his knees, pulling Jace’s pants with him.

“Oh  _fuck,”_ Jace breathes above him. Simon licks at the head of Jace’s cock, then goes all in, opening his mouth until the the head of it hits the back of Simon’s throat. It’s too much all at once, but Simon resolves to keep going despite the tears prickling his eyes or his gag reflex working up. Jace curses above him, threading his fingers through his hair and hesitating there, and that’s enough motivation for Simon. He consciously works to relax his throat, pushing as far as he can until all of Jace is in his mouth, a hot and heavy weight.  

He looks up as he starts to bob his head up and down, and catches Jace’s eye. There’s a look of wonder there, Jace’s lips parted with his heavy panting. He’s still wearing his gray henley, but the fabric of the shirt is starting to dampen with sweat.

Simon closes his eyes in concentration, reaches up to grip at Jace’s hands in his hair until Jace gets the hint, grasping Simon’s hair tighter, tugging at it as he bucks his hips into his mouth. A litany of curses fall from Jace’s lips, which in turn spurs Simon on, encouraging him to hollow his cheeks and suck Jace as deep as possible. He’s gagging, eyes tearing up, but he doesn’t care.

Pretty soon, Jace is letting go, his hands sliding to Simon’s cheek as he pulls Simon off as gentle as he can. Simon watches, panting, as a thick cord of spit and pre-come stretches from his mouth to the head of Jace’s cock.

It’s the hottest, dirtiest head he’s ever given, made even better by just how wrecked Jace looks afterwards, his usually perfectly slicked hair in disarray. Jace takes a step back, his eyes screwed shut, squeezing his hand around the base of his dick so he doesn’t blow his load all over Simon’s face. Not that Simon would mind; now that he’s thinking about it, he can’t imagine any scene hotter than being covered in Jace’s come. The thought of it makes his dick throb.

“Sorry,” Jace gasps, “I just need a minute.”

Jace is a mess.  _Simon did that_. He feels like a sex god.

“So, are we going to fuck?” he asks as he gets to his feet.

“I’ll grab the supplies,” Jace tells him. He looks Simon up and down, a dark look of lust in his eye. “You—just get out of those jeans.”

Simon fumbles with his belt and kicks off his pants as Jace crosses the room to his bedside table. He pulls his shirt off as he goes, buck naked as he bends over to search his drawers. Simon swallows thickly as he watches Jace’s ass as he bends over to pull out a bottle of lube and a box of condoms. He shakes out the last strip of condoms from the box.

_ (The nearly empty box is a reminder that Simon is just another in a long string of hookups. He ignores the clench in his chest.) _

“Where do you want me?” Simon asks.

“On the bed,” Jace instructs. “Lie on your stomach. Spread your legs.”

Simon does as bid, spreading out on top of the bed covers. His cock lays pressed between his body and the mattress, the pressure a welcome relief to his aching hard on. Behind him, he hears the loud pop of the lube uncapping and a loud squelch as Jace squeezes it out.

Lying like this makes him feel exposed like he never has before. The sight must be obscene, the way his wide spread legs expose the most private parts of him. He wishes he could see Jace’s face, see how he’s reacting to Simon spread out for him like a buffet. It’s not hard to imagine when he can hear Jace hiss when Simon wiggles his ass experimentally, grinding his hips against the bed.

Pretty soon the mattress dips with Jace’s added weight. Simon feels one of Jace’s hands run up his bare leg, pausing to squeeze his ass, then stopping at the small of his back, where his long pianist fingers spread and press down to keep Simon from wiggling anymore. With his other hand, Jace rubs a lube covered finger against Simon’s entrance. Simon’s more than ready for it, but Jace is such a tease in the way he circles his hole at a slowly, languid pace, occasionally passing his hand across as Simon tries to buck into the touch.

“You fucker,” Simon complains as Jace holds him down. Jace laughs, which is maddening and also maddeningly sexy. “Are you going to give it to me or what?”

“Patience, young padawan,” Jace quips, leaning down to press a kiss to Simon’s shoulder blade.

It startles a laugh out of Simon. Because first of all,  _wrong fucking context_. But also, since when did Jace know Star Wars enough to quote?

Then Jace is pushing a lube-slick finger in. Simon gasps, and Jace stills suddenly. “Is this okay?”

“Yes, yes,” Simon pants. “It’s perfect. Just take it slow.”

Jace does as Simon asks, fingering him open first with one finger, then two, then three—until Simon is whining and writhing on the bed, struggling to push back against Jace’s intruding fingers, except that Jace is still holding him down with his other hand.

All the while, Jace coos at him encouragingly, telling Simon just how good he’s doing, how sexy he looks taking his fingers—husky words whispered between kisses along Simon’s spine to distract him from the sensation. Simon wouldn’t have guessed Jace was so talkative in bed, but it turns out to be a huge kink for him, so it works just fine.

Jace fucks him after that, first on his hands and knees, then on his side. The third time Jace pulls out to switch positions, he flips Simon on his back and pushes his knees up to his shoulders. It’s the first time since they got to bed that Simon has had a chance to look at Jace. If post-fellatio Jace was wrecked, Jace in mid-coitus is fucking  _destroyed_. His hair is falling all over the place, and he’s panting like he’s run a marathon. There’s this look on his face that Simon hasn’t seen on anyone before—like he’s just met God and is waiting for his reckoning.

It’s confusing. It makes Simon feel something he doesn’t want to, like Jace might feel something too. Like there's something more to this than the low level attraction he sits on every day they work together.

Before he can process the notion, Jace is breaking eye contact, leaning down to kiss him again. Their mouths move together sensually as Jace pushes inside Simon once more, dragging out a low whine from Simon’s mouth. The angle lets Jace slide in impossibly deep, till he’s pushed his full length in. Simon feels fuller than he ever thought possible. Jace’s hand wraps around Simon’s aching cock, tugging in a slow, leisurely pace. It feels good—it feels  _mind_ - _melting_ —but it’s not enough to get him off, and they’ve been at this for hours.

“I—fuck— _Jace,_ ” Simon moans as Jace nuzzles kisses to Simon’s neck. It’s too good, like something Simon could get used to far too easily. “Jace, I need to come already or I’m going to die.”

“That good, am I?” Jace says, the words hot on Simon’s skin.

“Fuck you,” Simon pants. “I’m going to leave a bad Yelp review. Three stars: Jace Wayland fucks like a champ, great finger banging and inventive language, but loses points for a severe lack of  _making me come_.” Jace is still pumping into him slowly, making it last forever. Simon doesn’t think he can take it anymore.

“That’s still a three-star review,” Jace points out smugly.

Simon rolls his eyes—there’s a  _formula_  for those kind of things, he wants to explain—but then Jace is snapping his hips into Simon and speeding up the jerking motion of his hand. He gasps.

“This what you want?” Jace growls at him, voice low and seductive again.

“Yess,” Simon hisses, and then they’re off to the races.

Jace fucks him relentlessly, tugging him off in equal measure. Simon has been keyed up since the practice room and Jace has been denying him while fucking him for what feels like eternity, so it doesn’t take long for Simon to come with a cry, spurting over Jace’s fingers.

Jace finishes soon after that, hips stuttering as he fucks Simon through his orgasm. He collapses on the bed next to Simon, both of them a sticky, sweaty mess. In the afterglow, even Jace is moving slow and languid. Now that he has the time to breathe, Simon’s mind is catching up to himself, trying to figure out how he got  _here_ , in Jace’s bed.

Oh, the drums. Simon had been going off on the importance of a strong backing rhythm to intro the new song for probably 20 minutes, but now that he’s had some distance from the issue, Simon realizes that maybe he was just arguing with Jace to be contrary.

“We can do without the drums,” he thinks out loud.

Jace looks at him, confused.

“The argument we were having—about the drums on the new track,” Simon explains, propping himself on one elbow to look at Jace. “You’re right. The lyric feels more authentic when it’s stripped down at the beginning. We can keep the suspense, ramp up by the second verse.”

Jace’s face is blank for a moment, then slowly a grin crosses his face. “Thank you for agreeing with the facts, Mr. Lewis.”

Simon laughs at that. He shoves lightly at Jace and flops back down. “We still lost like, three hours of writing time tonight. Granted, we probably would have spent most of it fighting about the drums, but the principle stands.”

He feels Jace shrug next to him. “Stay the night. We’ll work in the morning.”

Simon runs through his schedule in his mind. He has no classes tomorrow and is not on shift at the dining room at the Dumort until evening, but Jace is working the afternoon Java rush all week, so the morning is probably the last time they can get together to work on the EP before the weekend.

“Sounds like a plan,” Simon says. He goes to clean up, taking a quick shower in Jace’s ensuite bathroom and slipping into a borrowed pair of Jace’s sleep pants. They're long on him, so he has to roll them up and they still pool around his feet. Jace laughs when he sees it when he comes back through the bedroom.

“Cute,” Jace says with a wink. He’s freshly showered too—must have used Magnus’—already crawling under the covers.

Simon rolls his eyes. “Okay, well, good night,” he says, heading towards the door.

“Where are you going?” Jace asks bemusedly.

Simon pauses with his hand on the door handle, looking back at Jace. “I was going to grab some spare blankets for the couch,” Simon says. “You know, where I always sleep when I’m crashed.”

“This isn’t one of Magnus’s wild parties where you drank too much to drive. We just had sex. I think we can handle sharing a bed,” Jace says, flipping the covers down on his bed as invitation.

Simon gives a begrudging sigh, but joins Jace under the covers. He keeps a fair amount of distance between them, just in case. “Should we talk about this?”

“There’s not much to talk about,” Jace tells him as he turns out the light. “We had sex, it was fun. That’s all there is to it.” His tone is measured and careful, because it  _is_  a little bit of a delicate situation after all. Simon’s not used to hooking up with people he has a working relationship with; he thinks Jace might, though. He’ll have to follow Jace’s lead on this.

_ That’s all there is to it _ , Simon repeats to himself.

“So nothing changes between us?” Simon clarifies.

“Not if you don’t want it to,” Jace replies.

“Good,” Simon says aloud. Inwardly, he repeats again his new mantra ( _that’s all there is to it, that’s all there is to it_ ) and mentally stomps out any feeling that may or may not be fluttering in his chest.

—

It becomes a thing they do.

They write, and they fight, and then they fuck when the tension gets too high. After the first time, Simon makes it a rule that they can’t go longer than a half hour while they’re still in a writing session. Jace makes the most out of it though, sucking Simon off in record time, or fucking him thoroughly, or riding Simon’s dick as aggressively as possible. After their heads clear, they can think more clearly about the problem at hand and choose the solution that works best.

They start having band practice and writing sessions at Jace and Magnus’ apartment instead of renting a room at Luke’s studio. Besides the convenience of Jace’s bedroom being ready available, the setup is a perfect for practice. The penthouse apartment means there’s no neighbors to bother, and with Magnus working at Pandemonium most nights, they’re free to be as loud as they want, Simon turning up the volume on his practice amp to match the sound Jace makes on the grand piano in the drawing room. When they work in the mornings, they’ll write out on the balcony with a fresh french press full of coffee, their guitars in their laps, and Simon’s laptop on the table in front of them.

They’ve been playing together a year, and they still don’t have a band name, performing local shows as  _Simon and Jace._ They’re actually getting attention from local music magazines based on their performances and shoddy iPhone videos their friends post on YouTube. They’re almost done working on a set of their 5 best originals for an EP they’re trying to produce to shop around to labels, and since they started hooking up, their joint creativity has been off the charts.

Simon is glad to finally have a bandmate who is as dedicated to the music as he is, and he’s lucky to have Jace specifically, who is not only handsome and dedicated, but also a great musician who is happy to guide Simon through some of the more technical aspects of music. For a long time, Simon was a bedroom artist, making songs on his laptop since he was twelve. His music is fueled by pure emotion, and Jace brings a much needed polish to make the music shine.

That’s why he has to be careful with this  _thing_  between him and Jace. He doesn’t want to jeopardize the band before it even begins, doesn’t want to be another Paramore that explodes because of feelings getting involved. And lest he forget—even if Simon wanted to risk it all, Jace doesn’t do personal. There’s a reason there’s an unofficial Jace’s ex-fan club they occasionally run into at Hunter’s Moon.

They have sex. And it’s  _amazing._ But that’s all there is to it.

—

_ (Side story: That first night, Simon couldn’t sleep. Some time before dawn, he crawled out of Jace’s bed and settled on the couch in the living room writing lyric fragments in his notebook. Magnus came home around then, giving Simon and his borrowed sleep pants a judgey look as Simon lamely explained that he was there for writing. Magnus was skeptical, but thankfully has not brought it up since, even though Simon started showing up so often that Jace gave him a spare key to the front door.) _

_ — _

_ (Another side story: The first time Simon topped with Jace, it almost went horribly, horribly wrong. He got to the apartment before Jace got home from work and waited. When Jace did come home, still wearing his hideous green apron from Java Jones, Simon tried to seduce Jace by serenading him on the piano with Ed Sheeran’s Shape of You, but his fingers stumbled over the chords in a definitively unsexy way and his voice didn’t carry quite right. Jace just looked at him with amusement and lust-dark eyes. And he’d let Simon bend him over the piano bench and fuck him anyway.) _

_ — _

_ (The last side story, Simon swears it: The last time they had sex was actually a celebration, not as stress relief, when they finally finished arrangements and fixings on the fifth song for their EP. All that’s left is to take it to an actual recording studio and lay down the tracks. In his excitement, Simon kissed Jace first, but Jace was the one to take it to the bedroom. They took their time, like the first time. Except now instead of hot and passionate, the sex was familiar and, dare he say it, fond. When Simon scooted up against the headboard and smacked his head a little too hard, Jace laughed and kissed it better. Then Simon had been on his back, Jace pinning his hands above his heads as he drove in and out of Simon’s body. Overheated and unable to think beyond the drag of Jace inside him, Simon clenched his fingers, only to find Jace’s fingers tangled with his. Then he came. _

_ (None of it means what he wants it to, he realizes. That’s why this has to end.) _

—

A week after they track the EP at an actual recording studio, Simon visits Jace on his day off. He lets himself in with the key Jace gave him. He’s about to call out, but stops when he hears the melodic notes drifting through the hall. Jace is playing the piano, something slow and melancholic. Simon knows Jace is a fan of Chopin’s nocturnes, and this piece reminds him a bit of that type of dream-like nostalgia.

He doesn’t approach Jace right away, just stands in the doorway between the hallway and the drawing room watching him play. He rarely gets to see Jace play music for himself, so it’s a treat to see the way Jace’s beautiful features focus in on the keys in a meditative state.

Also, Jace is singing, something he almost never does on his own. Getting Jace to harmonize with him is like pulling teeth. Singing solo? Not a chance. But now he’s hearing Jace sing something for himself. Simon knows that it’s eavesdropping, that Jace might not like it if he knew Simon was listening in, but he can’t help it. The song is beautiful, a wistful will-they-won’t-they romance full of longing and uncertainty. He’s been writing lyrics with Jace for a while now, enough to know his composition style and preferred cadence. He’s 100% certain that this song and these words are all Jace’s.

It makes him sad for his bandmate, and he wonders if this is a recent song, who Jace is pining after, and why they can't see a good thing when it’s in front of them. He didn’t think Jace did personal—but maybe that’s just because he’s been waiting on this person.

That’s when the front door opens loudly. Magnus saunters in with Alec, their arms laden with shopping bags from the outlets and some takeout bags from Jade Wolf. They’re mid-conversation and don’t notice Simon right away, but Simon ducks out of the doorway anyway, flattening himself against the wall. It’ll hide him from Jace, but not Jace’s roommate and foster brother. Hopefully Magnus and Alec can read his mind though, because he’s projecting at them really hard to  _not blow his cover._

“Jace~” Magnus calls as soon as he’s through the door. “We picked up Chinese! They were out of Kung Pao but—Oh, Simon! I didn’t know you were coming over, or I would have gotten the vegetarian lo mein.”

There is a loud clatter from the drawing room as Jace abruptly stops playing and steps off the sustain pedal.

Simon, who had been making chopping motions with his hand in front of him in the universal motion for  _cut it out_ , sighs loudly and throws his hands in the air. “It’s no problem, Magnus,” he says, trying not to sound bitter about his blown cover. It’s not Magnus’ fault he was creeping on Jace’s privacy. “I’m not staying, I just needed to talk to Jace for a minute.”

Magnus looks a little confused, and Alec next to him rolls his eyes so hard that he has to tip his head back to accommodate the motion. Alec has only ever been tolerant of him as one of Magnus’ friends, but he’s been outright dismissive over the last month or so.  _Rude._

“It’s fine,” Jace says, suddenly there by Simon’s elbow. He flashes a smile at Alec, who frowns a little. Simon doesn’t blame him for looking worried; Jace is giving his Customer Service smile, the one all servers have in their arsenal for the days when they are having an awful time but have to put up a front.

“You sure?” Alec asks. The way they’re looking at each other, Simon feels like they’re having an entirely separate conversation. He’s heard Magnus complain about Jace and Alec’s ability to have whole subtextual conversations that fly over his head like this, but he’s never seen it himself. It’s really off-putting, especially when the conversation seems to be about  _him_.

“Yeah,” Jace says, nodding firmly. “I’ll eat in a bit. Simon, you want to step outside?”

Simon nods, and follows Jace out onto the balcony. They don’t sit on the patio furniture, just stand there awkwardly with their hands in their pockets.

“Were you listening to me?” Jace asks eventually.

Simon shuffles his feet.  “Just a little bit,” he admits. “Not more than like, thirty seconds. I’m sorry, I know I shouldn’t have.”

Jace scratches behind his ear, looking at some point over Simon’s shoulder when he speaks again. “It’s fine,” he tells Simon.

“No it isn’t,” Simon insists. Sure, he and Jace have basically been living in each other’s brains over the last month and a half of late-night writing sessions. Sometimes it’s easy to forget that not every thought needs to be shared between them. Still, Simon knows that some songs are for your ears only. He has a handful of those himself. “It was a private moment,” he continues, “And I creeped on it. I’m  _sorry.”_

Jace looks at him with that unreadable expression that he gets sometimes. Simon would think that with the amount of time they've spent together, he’d have a better grasp on reading Jace by now. But then Jace gets like this, and it leaves Simon feeling bereft.

“Why are you here?” Jace asks after a long moment.

“Oh.” Simon had almost forgotten. He digs into his pocket and pulls out his key ring. After a moment of struggle, he pulls Jace’s spare apartment key from the ring and presents it to Jace. “I don’t think I need this anymore,” he says when Jace does nothing but stare at it.

“Are we—I mean, is the band breaking up?” Jace asks with a frown.

“No!” Simon bursts out. “No, no, of course not! I love being in the band with you. It’s just… now that the EP is recorded, I think we should go back to our regular practice schedule. Book a room at Luke’s shop, like we always did before. I won’t need this anymore.”

Jace is still looking at him with that unreadable, slightly confused expression on his face. It looks like he has to spell it out for him. Simon takes a deep breath.

“I think this thing, between us,” he starts, gesturing between the two of them, “The sex thing. It’s been great. Amazing even. But I feel like it’s gotten a little too… intense?” Simon flails for the word. He really should have rehearsed what he was going to say. When he checks, Jace is still listening intently, but his expression is no longer hard. In fact, it’s starting to break. He soldiers on: “And we said at the beginning that it was just sex and things wouldn’t change between us, but it’s starting to. Because there’s feelings involved now, and that’s not what we agreed on, you know? And it’s not fair to you. So.”

Simon cuts himself off before he can ramble anymore, watching Jace’s reaction nervously. Jace seems to still have that stoic expression, but barely. The confusion has given way to… Is that disappointment? Maybe even sadness. Which—does not make sense.  _Simon_  is the one with his heart breaking here. Maybe Jace is just sad that he can’t give Simon what he needs? Great. Now he’s made things awkward between them.

“Yeah, you’re right,” Jace says finally, flashing that Customer Service grin at Simon. He reaches out and plucks the proffered key from Simon’s hand. “I’ll text you my work schedule so we can book a time to practice.”

“Sounds good,” Simon says with a salute and he turns to walk out the door. “I’ll see you there.”

—

They release their EP on their bandcamp and start shopping it around, sending it to bookers, reviewers, and potential labels alike. The get picked up by some indie music zines, described as the next great fusion act mixing classical arrangements with electronic pop. That's funny, because Simon and Jace have never considered themselves a fusion of anything. They just are… them. It helps them get shows, though. So Simon’s not one to complain.

Things are still weird between them.

Simon and Jace go back to booking practice rooms at Luke’s music store, cutting back to one-hour sessions a couple times a week. They're not writing right now, just focused on gigging, which they do without too much issue. They're incentivized not to argue with each other, because whenever they do, they end up all up in each other’s space, each breathing in the other’s exhale until they realize that they are dangerously close to crossing the line they've drawn between them.

It's hard, though, this tentative truce. He misses Jace every day they're not together, and even more when they're in the same room. He should have known hooking up with Jace was a terrible idea. Jace has a trail of broken hearts a mile long. Simon is just the latest.

_ That's all there is to it.  _ Simon reminds himself of Jace's words from that first night constantly. He knew that from the beginning, but that hadn't stopped Simon from letting Jace ruin him for anyone else with his stupid handsome face and stupid amazing talent and stupid surprising sweetness.

He hopes things get easier soon. He stopped sleeping with Jace to protect the band, but it looks like it's getting caught in the crossfire anyway.

—

Simon has a tradition of playing a solo set every month during open mic night at Hunter’s Moon. He gets there early this month, ready to numb his feelings with alcohol before he gets up on stage. He doesn’t think Jace will be there—Jace has been uncommunicative these last few weeks, since Simon returned his key.

Maia sets down his drink in front of him, smiling brightly, but when Simon just stares at his drink she gets concerned. “Okay, spill,” she says, throwing down her towel in front of him. They went on two-and-a-half dates more than a year ago, which Maia seems to think gives her the license to play therapist on him. She likes to check in whenever he’s at her bar, which he is usually thankful for, but not today.  

When Simon looks around pointedly to check if she has any other patrons to bother, Maia pretends to wipe the counter down in front of him while giving him a  _look_  that is simultaneously encouraging and terrifying. It’s eerily like the one Luke always gives to scare him into confessing when he’s done something wrong.

“It’s nothing,” Simon says, taking a sip of his drink.

“Nice try,” Maia tells him. “I see Jace isn’t here.”

Simon doesn’t say anything to that, which seems to confirm Maia’s suspicions.

“Oh Simon,” she says. “You weren’t Jace’s first, and you won’t be the last.”

“Thanks,” Simon says bitterly. “Can we not talk about Jace?”

“Oh no, let’s talk about Jace,” a third voice says with glee. It’s Kaelie, sliding into the barstool beside him. While Maia has been cool with Jace since their hook up months and months ago, Kaelie never misses the opportunity to talk trash about him behind his back. Simon thinks she’s still bitter, because Jace hasn’t brought her home since that morning she was still there when came over the next morning. She’d engaged Simon in an awkward conversation, interrogating him about the nature of his relationship with Jace. At the time, it had almost been enough to break up the band.

“Come off it Kaelie, we all know you’re obsessed,” someone else says, and it’s the guy on Simon’s other side. “Meliorn,” he introduces himself. “I take it you’ve joined the club?”

“The what,” Simon deadpans, horrified.

“Yes,” Maia answers for Simon. “He’s had sex with Jace too. It’s still fresh though.”

Meliorn laughs warmly, clapping a hand on Simon’s shoulder. “It will be okay,” he tells Simon. “Jace Wayland—he blows in like hurricane, but you’ll see it doesn’t hurt so bad as true heartbreak when you know can’t expect anything more from him.”

“Yeah,” Kaelie tacks on. “Sex with him is  _life changing_ , don’t get me wrong about that. But you know, it’s all very impersonal.”

“Write a Yelp review, why don't you,” Simon mutters, wondering how he can drown himself in his whiskey. He's developed love-adjacent feelings for Jace, and having Jace’s ex-flings talk about the wonders of his dick is spectacularly unhelpful.

“Maybe I will. Four out of five stars, good for some fun, but not if you're trying to get personal,” Kaelie says, counting off Jace’s failings on her fingers. “No kissing, like he’s Julia Roberts or something. Makes it good, but doesn't make it last. No round twos, although he’s DTF again another day. But you're lucky if he doesn't bounce or ask you to leave as soon as it's over. Which is _fine_ , you know, I'm not asking for a ring. But I think the only time he didn't make me leave at three in the morning was that last time we hooked up, and then he started freaking out because  _you,_ Simon, texted that you were coming up to the penthouse.”

Simon remembers that well. It had been extremely awkward knocking on the door and coming face to face with Kaelie. Simon had just gone on his second date with Maia the night before, in fact had run into Kaelie and Jace at Hunter’s Moon when he went to pick up Maia after her shift, so he knew there was no point in feeling upset. He just chalked his bad mood afterward to the awkwardness, and Jace swore to never put Simon in a position to deal with his random hook ups again.

“To be fair, I haven't seen him around here on the prowl for months,” Meliorn throws in. “But I'll add this, he knows how to have fun, but he doesn't have _fun,_  if you know what I mean. I don't think I've seen him laugh.”

“He gets weirdly territorial,” Maia adds. “Like, when we hooked up he was all accusing me of having feelings for you, even though you and I dated for like, five minutes.”

_ “What?” _  Simon interjects. Maia had told him about the hookup, but she hadn’t mentioned that fact _._ “Wait, what did he say?”

Maia taps her fingers on the counter as she thinks back to that night. “Okay,” she says finally. “So it happened maybe three months after our last date, and you were doing open mic solo. I was really digging it, and then he corners me, tells me I need to back off of you since, you know, I blew my chance with you already. I tell him he’s crazy, that we’re just friends now. He says to prove it, so I kissed him to shut him up. He was acting all crazy and jealous, which was really hot but also super weird since we don’t get along in general.” Maia winces when she says it all out loud. “I know, that wasn’t really cool of me to hook up with your bandmate when you were playing your set.”

Simon waves his hand. “No worries, you already apologized for that forever ago. But he really did that?”

Maia nods solemnly. “He really did.”

This is a side to Jace he’s never heard of before. He’s only known Jace to be cool and seductive when it comes to picking up partners, loyal and kind when it comes to friends and family, dedicated when it comes to his music with Simon, and self-deprecating when it comes to himself. Hot-headed and jealous doesn’t fit with anything Simon knows about Jace.

In fact, none of the things that Maia, Kaelie, or even Meliorn are saying line up with Simon’s experience with Jace. With Simon, Jace was intense, but never acted out of his mind crazy. He would happily engage in foreplay for hours, and tried as often as he could to stretch Simon’s imposed half-hour limits. He even got cute in bed, making stupid Star Wars references he probably didn’t even understand, or blowing raspberries on Simon’s stomach just to make him laugh. And he would kiss Simon during the act—long, aching kisses that made Simon burn with desire for something more than just fucking to release the tension between them.

And then he thinks about the first time, remembers vividly how Jace had stared into his eyes, searching for something and not finding it. How Jace had pushed him against his van, and kissed him like he never wanted to let him go.

_ Holy shit. _

_ — _

Simon pounds on Jace’s apartment door. “JACE!” he yells. “I know you’re there! Let me in!”

It takes forever, but eventually Jace cracks open the door. He looks like he’s just gotten out of the shower, his wet hair slicked back and his skin damp, wearing sweats and dark circles under his eyes.

“What do you want, Simon?” Jace asks warily. “Aren’t you supposed to be at open mic?”

Simon pushes past Jace and into the penthouse, looking around. “Is anyone else here?”

“No,” Jace says. “Simon, what’s wrong?”

“You’re what’s wrong!” Simon exclaims, whirling on Jace and poking him in the chest. Jace is taken aback. “Why didn’t you tell me you had feelings for me?” Simon demands furiously.

Jace sours, turning to walk away from Simon. Simon follows him as he crosses from the hallway to the drawing room. “We already talked about this,” Jace snaps. “Three weeks ago, when you gave back your key.  _‘The sex was amazing, but it’s getting a little too intense,’_ you said. ‘ _There are **feelings**  involved now_.’ Don’t you remember?”

“Yeah, but I wasn’t talking about your feelings,” Simon snipes. “I was talking about  _mine!”_

Jace turns to stare at him, dumbstruck. Simon glares back.

“I just had to find out from your ex-fan club at the bar that you were so jealous of Maia and me that you hooked up with her during my fucking set. After you  _purposefully_  set it up so I’d have to see you and your hook ups. Constantly.”

“That wasn’t on purpose,” Jace mutters petulantly. “I was trying to get over you.”

_ “And _ ,” Simon continues, as if Jace hadn’t said anything, “It explains why Alec treats me the way he does, doesn't it? He knows how you feel, he knew we were hooking up, he thought I was leading you on.”

Jace flushes a deep red. “I told him to leave you alone. You had no idea how I felt, and I wanted to keep it that way.”

“But  _why?”_ Simon wants to know. “You were the one who told me it was just sex.”

“You didn't want to be seen with me! You said as much the first time we kissed, and I knew that whatever we did, it'd be under wraps. I didn't care. I wanted to take as much as you'd give me, even if it was never nearly enough.”

Simon thinks back to that first time in the practice room and wants to punch himself so hard. “You idiot,” Simon says, stalking over to grab Jace by the collar of his t-shirt, “I don't care if everyone knows—I want them to! I just didn't want to be caught by  _Luke_ , the man who practically raised me, in the act of _defiling his place of business_. If you had let me finish talki—”

Jace pulls Simon close and smashes their mouths together, deep and desperate. Simon kisses back just as hard. Slowly, Jace pulls back the intensity enough to speak. “Please be for real,” he whispers against Simon’s lips.

“I am for real,” Simon says, and kisses him back. “I love you, you asshole.”

“I love you too,” Jace breathes.

Then they're pawing at each other’s clothes, grinding up against each other impatiently. When they're naked, Simon pushes Jace onto the couch and kisses down Jace’s body. His skin smells like his body wash, still soft and pink from the shower.

It's been nearly a month since they last touched each other. It feels like the first time all over, the same heady arousal, the same desperate urge to just  _be_  connected to Jace. Except now instead of feeling confused and uncertain about what comes after, it feels like coming home.

Jace's breath hitches as Simon kisses his cock, tip already leaking pre-come. Then Simon goes even lower.

“This good?” Simon asks, slipping his hands up to spread Jace’s cheeks.

“Yes,” Jace says breathlessly. He hikes his knees to his chest to give Simon access. “I want it all.”

Simon feels all warm in his chest at the admission. He spreads Jace's cheeks wide with his thumbs. Jace groans at first contact, which gets Simon’s blood pumping. He’s already getting hard, and it won't be long before he’s ready for the next step. But he’s surprised to realize that Jace’s hole is already looser than he expected to find it.

“Were you playing with yourself?” Simon asks.

Jace, who’s already sweating in anticipation, nods his head. “Yes,” he says. “In the shower just now. I… I was thinking of you.”

“Describe it to me,” Simon commands. He sees it in his mind’s eye, Jace dripping with water as he reaches back to finger himself. He wets his lips and leans back in to lick at Jace’s hole.

“I thought about, I thought about the first time you fucked me. When I came home and you were waiting here for me.  _Fuck,”_ Jace hisses as Simon pokes his tongue just past his rim. “You were waiting for me with that ridiculous Ed Sheeran song. And it was stupid and so charming. And  _shit_ I have never wanted anything so badly as to come home to that—to you—every day. I think that's when I knew I loved you.”

Simon hums into his rim job, pleased. He works up as much saliva as he can and uses his tongue to apply it liberally, flattening his tongue against Jace's hole. He relishes the way Jace squirms against his touch every time he tries something different.

“I touched myself thinking about the way you bent me over the piano bench,” Jace admits breathily. “I think about it alot. I'm almost always half hard when I play that piano because of you. I opened myself thinking of your fingers and your cock—”

Jace moans again as Simon sweeps his tongue across his entrance once more, and Simon pulls off. He looks down at Jace, who is a pretty mess. His skin is flushed, cock hard and red against his stomach, hole wet and dripping with Simon’s spit.

“Jesus Christ,” Simon tells him. “I can't—I need to be inside you.”

Jace nods his agreement, moving to get up. “Supplies—”

Simon hushes Jace with a kiss. “I've got this,” he says.

Jace watches curiously as he gets up and heads over to the bookshelf along the wall and begins scanning the titles and rapping his knuckles against some of the tombs.

“What are you doing?” Jace asks.

“I've known Magnus for years. I even lived here awhile back,” Simon explains as he searches. “Before he met your brother, Magnus had some... special parties, let's just say. I never participated, but I know he always kept a stash of supplies in one of these false books.” He grins as he raps against a hollow book, and pulls out a wooden box carved with the cover title of Pride and Prejudice. “I figured he'd either find it too much a pain to get rid of, or want to keep it at hand in case he and Alec get spontaneous.” He flips open the box and finds a small travel sized bottle of lube and a couple of condoms. He checks the expiration dates—still good for a couple more months, perfect—and triumphantly returns to Jace with his boon.

Jace has a constipated look in his face, like the thought of Magnus hosting sex parties or getting frisky with his brother are too much for him.

Simon laughs and kisses the expression off of Jace's face. “Since you shared, it's my turn,” Simon tells him as he tears open a condom wrapper and rolls it on. “I didn't know I loved you until I said it just now.”

Jace whines in dismay, but Simon quickly soothes him with another kiss.

“I knew I liked you a fuckton more than was good for me. As soon as I realized you had feelings too, I stomped over here to confront you. And—the words just came out. I didn't mean to say it, but it feels right.” Simon smiles softly at Jace, running a hand through his hair. “I love you Jace Wayland.”

Jace looks like he can't believe this is his life. He's shy about it too, biting his lip a little and looking away from Simon's direct gaze. It is fucking adorable.

“Just fuck me already, Lewis,” he complains.

Simon grins. “Your wish is my command.”

He finishes preparing himself, and slides into Jace an inch at a time. He talks Jace through the pain as he breaches Jace’s ring of muscle, peppering kisses to his face and neck. He reaches down between them to wrap a hand around Jace’s cock. He doesn't speed up until Jace practically begs him to, a litany of curses and  _Simon, fuck, I love you._

It doesn't take long. Between being abstinent for almost a month and the heavy ramp up of emotion and lust in the last hour, Simon doesn't hold himself back from coming when he's ready. He pulls out, slides down again to suck Jace in his mouth and finger his asshole till he’s coming, hot and bitter on Simon’s tongue. Simon takes it all.

In the afterglow, for the first time, Simon lets himself curl close to Jace, their bodies fitting together like a matched set. It's everything he didn't think he could have before.

“Gross,” Jace complains, as he shifts around to wrap an arm around Simon. The leather of the couch squeaks as his sweaty skin peels off of it. “This couch is not made for cuddling. Also, you've made me hyper-aware that my brother has probably been naked on this couch at some point.”

“You didn't care ten minutes ago!” Simon protests. He’s comfortable lying on top of Jace and does  _not_  want to move.

“That's because you were in the middle of confessing your love to me,” Jace counters. “You better edit your three star review. I sacrificed my mental health for you.”

Simon laughs. “You remember that?”

“I remember everything you've ever said to me,” Jace tells him smugly. “Even that Captain America jab you took when we met.”

Simon rolls his eyes, props himself up on his elbows on Jace’s ridiculous pecs so he can see his face. There’s a fond smile there, and a soft look in his eyes that Simon could get used to.

“Fine,” he concedes. “Five stars: Jace Wayland is dense and emotionally constipated, but more than makes up for it by being spectacular in pretty much every other way.”

Simon loves the way Jace’s face lights up before he kisses Simon once more, slow and deep. Soon, he feels Jace getting hard again against his thigh. Jace breaks the kiss. “Want to take this to the bedroom?” he asks. His lowered voice still sends a trill up Simon’s spine, every time.

Simon grins happily. “Always.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> The end! Thanks for reading. Come visit me at [tumblr](the-undergod.tumblr.com)! I can't leave this universe alone, so I'll probably be posting some Syncopation stuff there.


End file.
